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No. 6 8,886. tedne I2 J.P|LLOBGET. 7

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(Application filed Mar. 16, 1899.

(No Model.)

ms N'Omivs PETERS 120.. moraumo WASHKNDTON, u, c.

VATENT rrrcnt JOSEPH PILLORGET, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

TARGET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o.- 638,886, datedDecember 12, 1899.

Application filed March 16, 1899. Serial No. 709,349. (No model.) i

T0 at whom it may concern: A

Be it known that I, JOSEPH PILLoRen'r, of the city and county of SanFrancisco, in the State of California, have invented a certain new anduseful Fuse-Shooting Game, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to sports or plays that call for the exercise ofskill, but at the same time are more or less subject to chance, and inwhich the successful contestant is rewarded by a prize.

The object of the inventoin is to provide a harmless game that will notonly afford a pleasant, useful, and profitable pastime to the personengaged in it, but will also be asource of amusement, diversion, anddelight to the people who may be looking on.

Reference is had to the drawings hereto a11- nexed for a detaileddescription of the inventiou.

In the said drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view giving arepresentation of the entire game. Fig. 2 is a perspective of a fuse orequivalent projectile that is used to shoot with, the same beingrepresented as burning just as it comes out of the gun from which it isfired. Fig. 3 is a perspective of the shell that contains the fuse whichis shot at and is to be lighted. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of thefuse shot at and lighted, this view showing the plug to which the shellis attached and the spring therein which ejects the lighted fuse as itburns.

The same part is indicated by the same letter of reference wherever itoccurs in the several figures.

The letter A represents a mast made of three sections that are united byiron bands -B and C. This mast usually is about twelve yards high and issunk into the ground to a suitable depth, so that it will stand firmlyin position. It is tapering from the bottom up, as shown, and carries atits top a ball D, to which are nailed American flags E F. It will beobserved that, being built as described, the mast- A can be readilytaken apart and set up again wherever it may be required. It is notnecessaryto my invention, however, that the mast be made exactly asdescribed. The form of mast shown herein is merely the preferred form.Any other suitable form will do-forinstance, a mast made of a singlestick of wood or from other material than woodand the same may be set upin various ways besides being sunk into the ground. All this is withinthe scope of my invention.

' To the upper part of the mastA is secured a spar or cross-piece G,designed to hold up the fuse or fuses to be shot at and lighted. Asshown, I prefer to have this spar secured by its center, so that it mayproject out on op posite sides of the mast, and thus form two arms ofequal length, to each of which one or two or several fuses may beattached.

The fuse or fuses to be shot at and lighted (designated herein byreferenceletter H) could be attached directly to the cross-piece G orotherwise suspended from the mast A, i

if desired; but as a matter of choice, again, I attach them to woodenpigeons J Kim order to give more attraction to the game and, ifpossible, cause it to be adoptedin preference toawell-known and cruelsport-viz., livepigeon shooting. As shown, the pigeons J K are each heldup from the cross-piece G by means of a rope L, passing over a pulley Monthe under side of said cross-piece and over another pulley N at theupper end of the mast A and hitched to a cleat P on the lower end ofsaid mast. Each pigeon is kept at a suitable distance from thecrosspiece by a short tube R, secured to the under side of the latterand having a side aperture 7', through which the holding-rope is passed.The back of pigeon J, it will be seen, rests against the lower end ofthe tube R, that is provided for it. This is the proper position foreach pigeon when the fuse attached to it is to be fired at. Pigeon K, onthe other hand, is represented with a fuse that is just burning out, andthe position it occupies on the drawings indicates how it is lowered bymeans of its rope L to replace the burned fuse.

There are several Ways of attaching the fuse H to either of the pigeons.to insert the said fuse in a hole bored in the under side of the pigeon,as indicated in connection with pigeon K. This mode of attachment,however, is subject to the drawback that the fuse when lighted may notbe seen The simplest is burning up to the last. A better mode is toplace the fuse H in a shell S, that is fastened to a plug T, driven intothe pigeon, and from which it can be expelled by a spiral springU inproportion as it burns. A plug'l is shown in connection with the pigeonJ. Such a plug may remain permanently attached to the pigeons. The shellS is fastened to it by means of a pin V, passed transversely throughsaid plug and having both its ends projected, so they will enterL-shaped slots X in opposite sides of said shell. As will be understood,the shell S will be set firmly on the plug T upon turning it slightlyand causing the two ends of the pin V to slide in the lower member ofthe L-shaped slots. The shell is made tapering at its lowerend, as at s,to hold up properly the fuse H, upon which the spiral spring U isbrought to bear. Said spring, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 4, iscaught and held compressed between the top of the fuse H and the lowerend of the plug T. When the fuse H is hit and lighted by the projectilefired at it, it blazes and keeps burning in full view of the spectatorstill it is enshell S by the spring U as fast as it burns.

The composition of the fuse H is not given herein, as the same belongsto a class of inventions entirely different from the game heredescribed. It is sufficient to state that the said fuse is preferably somade as to give out when lighted a bright varicolored flame similar towhat is produced by Bengal fire.

For a projectile to fire at the fuse H, I prefer to use another fuse ofthe type shown at Fig. 2 and designated by letter of reference Y. Thelattei named fuse is fired from a muzzle-loading gun with a small chargeof powder that is ignited by means of a percussion-cap in a Well-knownmanner. Other firearms, however, may be used, the only requisite beingthat the fuse Y come out in good shape from the gun employed to shootwith, but burning, ready to communicate fire to the fuse H, which it isdesigned to hit and light. Z Z represent lamps with reflectors, whichare used at night in order to throw out a su fficient quantity or volumeof light upon the pigeons and the fuses they hold, and thereby permitthe marksman to take his aim properly before shooting. These reflectorsmay be suspended from hooks .2 and hoisted and held up by ropes y,passing over pulleys 0c and fastened to the cleats P in the same manneras the ropes L. Any suitable kind of reflector may be used.

At the foot of the mast A in Fig. 1 will be noticed a cage (4. This isused to hold a number of live pigeons, which are given as prizes tothose whose skill or good luck enables them to win at the game. Otherprizes of greater or less value are usually given to the better marksmenwho succeed in lighting several of the fuses H in succession.

The shooting-grounds, when the game is conducted in the open air, areordinarily in closed by a fence made, for instance, of pickets b andropes or rails c.

The letter (1 indicates a small table or stand on which are placed theguns employed in the game and from the front of which the shots arefired. The distance of this table from the foot of the mast A is soregulated that the fuses to be shot at will be at about twenty yards inan oblique line from the place where the marksman stands.

It may be stated that the game hereinabove' described is absolutelywithout danger of any sort in so far as the handling of the gunsemployed and the fuses burned-are concerned. Very little powder is usedin the guns, and the fuses are not of an explosive nature.- There is nodanger from fire, either, as the fuses that are fired from the guns donot go much beyond the other fuses against which they are directed, andboth kinds of fuses when lighted are about completely consumed beforethe residue thereof falls to the ground. On the contrary, the game is aperfectly harmless one and, as a rule, is carried on to the entiresatisfaction of those who take part in it and never fails to please andexcite the ad miration of the onlookers.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Pat= ent of the United States, is-

1. In a fuse-shooting. game apparatus, the combination with a support,-of a substantially horizontal arm supported thereby, a fuseholderdepending from said arm, and a fuse carried by said fuse holder andexposed whereby it can be lighted by a projectile, sub stantially asdescribed.

2. In a fuse-shooting game apparatus, the combination with a support, ofa fuse-holder supported thereby,a fuse carried by said fuseholder andexposed whereby it can be lighted by a projectile, and means forprojecting said fuse as it is consumed, substantially as described.

3. A fuse-shooting game apparatus comprising a mast, a cross-piece atthe upper end thereof,a tube secured vertically to said crosspiece, thefigure of a pigeon, a fuse connected with said pigeon, a hoisting-ropeattached to the pigeon and passing through said tube, means to guide andhold said rope in a given position, said fuse being adapted to be firedat and lighted by a suitable projectile, substantially as described. 7

4:. A fuse-shooting game apparatus comprising a mast or other suitablesupport, the figure of a pigeon and means to hold the same in properposition from the support, a plug inserted in said pigeon, aspring-pressed fuse and shell therefor adapted to be fastened to saidplug, said fuse being adapted'to be fired at and lighted by a suitableprojectile, substantially as described.

5. A fuse-shooting game apparatus comprising a mast, a cross-piece onthe upper part thereof, the figure of a pigeon suspended from saidcross-piece and having a fuse connected with it, means, such as a lampwith a reflector, to throw light on the pigeon-figure and fuse carriedthereby, said fuse being adapted to be fired at and lighted by asuitable projectile, substantially as described.

6. In a game apparatus of the kind described a fuse-holder in the formof a pigeon,

a shell carried by said holder, a fuse in said 10 shell, and aprojecting-spring for said fuse, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me, at San Francisco, California, this 7th day of March, 1899.

JOSEPH PILLORGET. Witnesses:

L. ADOLPHE GRINCOURT, A. H. STE. MARIE.

